Aerospace firm EADS, which owns Airbus, is negotiating a merger with UK defence contractor BAE Systems, but will this boost the prospects for Britain's defence industry, or is it selling out to the Germans and French?

Lord Reid, former defence secretary, said that there are a large number of obstacles and difficulties to be overcome "not least on the political side".

He told the Today programme he believes the government has to make a "huge call" over the merger as it is not just a commercial case but also a "geo-strategic case".

Conservative MP Ben Wallace said it is important to get to the bottom of what safeguards there is for the UK and "whether our defence relationship with the US is threatened or strengthened".

Dr John Louth of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, told Sarah Montague that the US "is very nervous of any kind of technological transfer offshore".

He said there would have to be some "ring-fencing of BAE businesses in the US" if the merger were to go ahead.

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